This invention relates to removable jacking wheel units for moving and displaying heavy objects, such as boats.
For example, 14 to 26 foot boats weighing from 1000 to 4000 pounds are usually shipped from the manufacturer to various dealers on highway cargo trailers. When the boat arrives at its destination, the dealer, according to conventional practice, must have available a crew of workmen to unload the boats either by fork lift or slings and a crane. There must also be available a boat trailer of appropriate size for each boat or some other means for supporting the boats after they have been lifted off the trailer.
If the dealer does not have a work crew and the right combination of boat trailers immediately available, there is confusion and loss of time in the unloading procedure adding to the expense and inconvenience of the dealer as well as the highway trucker whose departure is delayed.
More tedious work is required to get the boats on display in the dealer's show room. Automobile boat trailers are not favored for display purposes because of the height of the mounting and the valuable space occupied by the trailer. So, again, the boat must be unloaded by some means and placed on some suitable support that does not detract from the display of the boat. When a boat is to be displayed in a boat show, the dealer faces the same problems all over again, an automobile boat trailer usually being an undesirable support for display of a boat in a boat show.
Objects of the invention are, therefore, to provide improved apparatus for facilitating the shipment, handling and display of heavy objects such as boats, to provide conveniently attachable and removable wheels to convert a pallet into a dolly, and to provide an improved attachable wheel unit having jacking means to raise a dolly frame or other structure off the floor.